Jungle Tales..

This post is due from April.. had written it immediately after the trip but somehow completely forgot to sumbit it. I found it today while going through the list.


So the short, impulsive trip took us to a national park. We left early morning and had an amazing drive. I always put together a chicken, pasta salad for such journeys. Its a filling meal and makes the pit stops short. It started off when once P and I had some people over for dinner the night before we were leaving for a holiday and I packed the left over salad to see us through breakfast. Its become a tradition now. I pack it in two or three little boxes so its easy to eat out of it in the car. And dump it in the ice box so its stays refreshingly cool.


So P drove and I ate, then I drove and he ate and we made it to our destination in record time. Since we started early and missed all the traffic, we weren't tired at all and anyway one look at our hotel shot our spirits through the roof.


As we drove through one last bend in the hills, the lush green lawns and bright blue swimming pool of the hotel beckoned. The lawns ended in the stony beach and then the beautiful river. surrounded by little hillocks. We chose to stay in a tent instead of a room since we didn't have T with us. This the funny thing about having a baby, when he's not with us, we do things that we wouldn't normally have done. What I mean is that it has made me more adventurous and impulsive. Since I know doing things a certain way is not possible with T around, I try to live to the maximum when he's not with me.


So we had lunch, then a long dip in the pool and then we set of to see this other place.

Now this was an expensive fishing resort that we wanted to stay at initially but the tariff was completely beyond us so we took the next best thing and decided to just visit the place to find out what the fuss was about. Now this place is accessible only on foot across a little hillock or in a jeep by wading through the shallow river. We thought of testing our trusty SUV through the river since P loves these adventurous off-roading drives. So we convinced one of the local hotel staff to accompany us and set off. We crossed the first stretch of the river fairly easily and then a second, by the third P was over confident and just went a bit too fast and ended up on a wrong patch and of course we got stuck. Now the SUV seems quite dependable on city roads where you park it on side walks if no parking is available but in the midst of a river was another ball game altogether. It is not a four wheel drive so we just kept going lower and lower on revving it up and finally reached the river bed. The water would enter everytime we would open a door. P and the local dude struggled to put stones under the wheels and I was driving, actually trying to move it somewhere. Nothing worked for about half an hour. It got dark. The local decided to run back to the hotel to get help and we waited. It was the scariest time of my life. We were right in the middle of the river. The engine had to be kept running, cos shutting it off would have meant risking the water entering the exhaust pipe. Thank god we had topped up the fuel. We could see forest fires on the opposite hill top. The river gushing all around us. It was spooky.

Then we saw a jeep approaching through the river on the other side. First thought was relief, then fear. P made me hide on the back seat and I took of the little jewellery i wore. The jeep approached us tentatively. We waited with bated breath. P flicked the car's light to sign the jeep to stop and help, nothing happened, then P put the window down and screamed out that we were stuck. The jeep inched forward and entered our side of the stream. We could now see a lone driver in the car, I felt better and rose from the hiding position. The jeep took a wide turn into the stream and just went through it at the farthest point possible, crossed the river and went on to solid ground and drove away with P left screaming for help. We couldn't stop laughing at the thought that we scared the poor guy probably on his way to get provisions for the other resort or something . But the weirdest thing was that the kind of distrust we have for fellow humans now. We were stranded in the middle of the river and the guy didn't even stop to ask why were we there. Or did he think it was a pleasure picnic at that hour in the middle of the river with water reaching above the foot rests of the car doors. So anyway, after a half hour's wait, the local guy got back with a jeep and six more men. They moved our car in under a minute.

The adventure did not end here though. The next morning started with an early morning jaunt to the fishing sites that were more easily accessible. P managed to catch quiet a few but of course we released them back into the water. The region is a Mahaseer conservation area and only angling is allowed with a permit and only in the presence of a government guide. P's obsession with fishing holidays suits me fine, all the time he fishes, I sit on a shady corner on the bank with cool drinks and a book and enjoy the quiet and of course the beautiful views that most such places offer. So the morning was spent this way.

The afternoon took us inside the national park. It wasn't season time so only a handful of jeeps were parked at the entrance waiting for the gates to be thrown open.We went cruising in an open jeep at 3 in the afternoon, under the scorching sun only to spot a few herds of deer and some jungle fowl. Sweaty and disappointed we were waiting to turn back when suddenly the alert jeep driver spotted a wild elephant that too a male tusker. We headed closer. P with his camera ready got all excited. As we went closer the big guy just turned around and started moving in our direction. P and the driver realized it was mast (in its mating period i think) and hence could actually charge at us. I freaked. The jeep kept going forward, P clicked away happily, the elephant closing in and I was screaming under my breath (yes its possible to scream like that when a wild animal is a few meters away). Fortunately P was happy with the pictures he took and asked the driver to turn back. Heres one of them.

So then we were finally heading back, content with the conquest. As we got close to the park exit, we saw a jeep ahead turn around and head back full throttle, the people screaming "Tiger, Tiger.. choti something something...". So we turned around as well with screeching breaks, bumping backs and baited breath.

By the time we reached there were a bunch of jeeps surrounding the said spot with screaming aunties and yelping children. The tiger had ofcourse fled into the surrounding bushes. We spotted the stripes and then as of to put an end to all the commotion, the animal got up and strode away majestically deep into the jungle, in full view of the screaming crowds.
A great performance.

Somehow seeing the tiger culminated the trip and we didn't have an appetite for anything else, just headed back to the hotel and back home the next morning.